The two trials were carried out among nearly 3,000 men in Kisumu,
Kenya, and nearly 5,000 men in Rakai, Uganda. None were infected with
H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS; they were divided into circumcised
and uncircumcised groups. They were given safe sex advice — although
many presumably did not take it — and retested regularly.

The
trials were stopped by the National Institutes of Health’s Data Safety
and Monitoring Board this week after data showed that the Kenyan men had
a 53 percent reduction in new H.I.V. cases and the Ugandan men a 48
percent reduction.

Today, we see the results of this study put into action to save lives. First, MPs in Zimbabwe underwent testing recently for HIV. Now, MPs in Zimbabwe are getting circumcised as part of a campaign to reduce HIV.About 120 officials expressed interest and a make-shift clinic was set up in Parliament House, Harare, to perform the procedure. By midday, four had had the surgery with more expected, including possibly President Robert Mugabe.

In Zimbabwe, more than a million people are HIV positive. Given the same scenario, I wonder how many other politicians in other countries - particularly in the West - would do the same. That is, would they support better health for their citizens by personally participating in a body altering procedure to promote health and reduce the spread of a deadly disease?
See the full article below or click here.

Africa

Zimbabwe's MPs to be circumcised in bid to fight HIV

A group of Zimbabwean MPs is getting circumcised as part of a campaign to reduce HIV and Aids cases. A small makeshift clinic for carrying out the procedures was erected in Parliament House in the capital Harare.

Blessing Chebundo, chairman of Zimbabwe Parliamentarians
Against Aids, said his main objective was to inspire other citizens to
follow suit. Research by the UN has suggested the risk of HIV infection is lower among men who have been circumcised. More than a million people in Zimbabwe are believed to be HIV-positive, with about 500,000 receiving anti-retroviral treatment.

Mr Chebundo said more than 120 MPs and parliamentary staff had shown an interest in the circumcision programme. The BBC's Brian Hungwe, in Harare says that by 12:00 local
time (10:00GMT), four had had the procedure performed, with more
expected later. There was a possibility that some members of the executive may also attend, including President Robert Mugabe, he added.

The circumcision programme had attracted a lot of attention in Zimbabwe, and had divided opinion, our correspondent said. The issue was raised in parliament in September 2011, when
Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe made a plea to her fellow
politicians. At the time, many MPs shunned the idea. As well as a clinic in parliament, the initiative has seen a
tent set up across the road from parliament, where counselling sessions
will be held.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Every semester I ask my class to define childhood. What do children DO? What is their 'job'? The response: they play, they go to school, they are taken care of by their parents. Around the world are other children whose childhood is defined by hard labor. Whose 'job' it is to help provide for the family's welfare. Their education and health is not a top priority - for anyone.

June 12 was Child Labor Day. Here are images from Reuters showing us what that means.

Mithun,
11, poses for a photo at a laterite brick mine in Ratnagiri district,
about 360km (224 miles) south of Mumbai, April 14, 2011. He is paid two
Indian rupees ($0.04) per brick and carries an average of 100 bricks out
of the mine per day. Each brick costs between 10-14 rupees
($0.22-$0.31), and weighs around 40 kg. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Josue
Alexander Chavez, 9 years old, uses a hammer to break stones as he
works near the road to Mazatenango, about 165 km (102 miles) north of
Guatemala City, June 11, 2012, ahead of World Day Against Child Labor.
Chavez works with his parents, breaking stones for the construction of
houses. He works from 7am-5pm and makes 20 quetzales ($2.50) per day. REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez

Josue
Alexander Chavez, 9 years old, carries a hammer as his father Mario
Chavez gathers stones near the road to Mazatenango, about 165 km (102
miles) north of Guatemala City, June 11, 2012. REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez

Josue
Alexander Chavez, 9 years old, uses a hammer to break stones as he
works near the road to Mazatenango, about 165 km (102 miles) north of
Guatemala City, June 11, 2012. REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez

A
girl covers her face near the road to Mazatenango, where she fills
holes in the road with earth in exchange for money, about 165 km (102
miles) north of Guatemala City, June 11, 2012. REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez

A boy yawns as he waits for customers at his roadside apple stall in Kabul August 6, 2008. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Seven year old Wasim works in a bakery workshop on outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, May 10, 2012. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj

Naser,
7, works at a metal workshop which makes propellers for ships at a
ship-building yard next to Buriganga River in Dhaka, January 8, 2012. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj

A boy works in a traditional factory producing coal about 30 km south of the city of Taiz, Yemen, December 12, 2011. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi

Waste
collector Dinesh Mukherjee, 11, uses a magnet attached to a wooden
stick to collect pieces of loose metal at the Ghazipur landfill in New
Delhi November 10, 2011. REUTERS/Atish Patel

Twelve-year-old
Nepalese, Sirjan Rai, rests on the mountain footpath while carrying
goods towards Dingboche, Nepal, April 30, 2011. Earning approximately
3000 Rupees ($66) per month, Sirjan helps works as a porter to help
provide for his family in Pangboche. REUTERS/Laurence Tan

Boys
pan for gold on a riverside at Iga Barriere, 25 km (15 miles) from
Bunia, in the resource-rich Ituri region of eastern Congo February 16,
2009. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly

A boy tries to sell a hand made hat to tourists at a public beach in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, April 10, 2011. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

An
Indian child laborer arranges bricks at a brick factory in Tharvai
village, about 35 km (22 miles) from the northern Indian city of
Allahabad, February 21, 2006. REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash

Child
laborers sit on their wheelbarrows while waiting for work at a local
market early in the morning in Abbottabad, Pakistan, May 19, 2011. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Riffat, 8, splashes water on his face as he works at a vehicle spare parts store in Dholaikhal, Dhaka February 29, 2012. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj

Simon,
12, holds a light to assist his supervisor working on a motorcycle
engine at a workshop in Islamabad January 31, 2011. Simon earns 20
Pakistani Rupees ($0.22) a day working as a helper at the workshop. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood

Czoton,
7, works at a balloon factory on the outskirts of Dhaka November 23,
2009. About 20 children are employed at the factory and most of them
work for 12 hours a day. The weekly wage is 150 taka ($2.14) for the
children. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj

Tota
Miya, 10, shows his hands after preparing soil to make bricks in a
brick field on the outskirts of Dhaka November 21, 2009. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj

A boy poses as he stands in front of a shop selling scraps in the old quarters of Delhi May 12, 2011. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

An
illegal immigrant boy from Myanmar collects plastic at a rubbish dump
site near Mae Sot December 22, 2009. Despite terrible living conditions
and the fear of being sent back to their country, several hundred
illegal immigrants from Myanmar live and earn an average of $1 per day
collecting plastic at the rubbish dump near the border town of Mae Sot.
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Children
working as rag pickers search for scrap at a garbage dump in the
northeastern Indian city of Siliguri November 14, 2008. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri

A
boy carries rubbish for recycling outside Kabul December 15, 2010.
About 1.2 million Afghan children carry out part or full time work, the
government says, in a country where war, poverty, widespread
unemployment and a preference for large families have created a huge
underage labor market. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

A
boy works at a brick-making factory outside Kabul July 15, 2010.
Laborers, most of whom work barefoot and without gloves, earn from $3 to
$8 a day depending on their working hours and the number of bricks they
make. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Afghan boy Abdul Wahab works in a blacksmith's shop in Kabul December 14, 2010. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Afghan boy Abdul Wahab rests after work in a blacksmith's shop in Kabul December 14, 2010. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

Siddiqullah,12, carries a basket of potatoes to nearby vegetable and fruit vendors in Karachi September 27, 2009. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

A cobbler walks in a closed market during a partial strike called by traders against power cuts in Lahore March 31, 2012. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

Ahsan,
12, stands looking over an oven at a brick yard in the outskirts of
Islamabad November 23, 2010. Ahsan works with his family members at the
brick yard and earns about 300 Pakistan Rupees ($3.5) per day. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed

Thursday, June 14, 2012

In a recent article in Time, the the UN criticized the use of 'baby hatches,' a system that allows mothers to anonymously abandon their newborns at designated locations such as hospitals. Around since the 13th century, these drop boxes are found throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and in all 50 US states. While advocates say baby boxes prevent infanticide, UN critics say that many babies are abandoned by the mother's relatives and that infanticide numbers have not decreased. You can read the full article here.

.
. . inadvertently, well-intentioned volunteers have helped to create a
surge in the number of residential care homes as impoverished parents are
tempted into giving up their children in response to promises of a
Western-style upbringing and education. Despite a period of prosperity in the
country, the number of children in orphanages has more than doubled in the past
decade, and over 70 per cent of the estimated 10,000 'orphans' have at least
one living parent.

And
perhaps most disturbingly, stories have emerged that Cambodian children are
being exploited by some of the companies organizing the volunteers or running
the orphanages.

Is profiting from people's good
intentions, even to the possible detriment of children they hope to help, another
downside to capitalism?

As stated in this article, an estimated one-third of Cambodian children live
below the poverty line, and few would doubt that help is much needed.
Below are some guidelines for potential volunteers to consider:

DO'S:

Volunteer at a childcare facility in your own community before
considering the option of participating in an orphanage voluntourism
experience.

Your research. Ask local educators and NGOs about reputable
organizations that are helping orphaned Cambodian children. Look for one
that is legally registered and employs an active family reunification
program.

Select programs that require a thorough background check on you,
including fingerprinting, in order to participate and have a
long-standing track record of working in a given community. Ask the
organization if they have a child protection policy in place and a
system for reporting suspected abuse.

Sign on for a long-term project. Choose a placement where you are
supervised and working within a long-term curriculum. Consider helping
community-based programs, which support families and enable the
children to live at home.

Bring special skills. Medical specialists, teachers and human rights
educators are often needed. Ask to speak to a volunteer who came before
you.

Donate goods in kind. Ask the organization, rather than a tuk tuk or
taxi driver, about their needs. A common scam involves exorbitant
charges for rice on the advice of a profiteering driver.

DONT'S:

Go to any orphanage that actively solicits tourists.

Work with the children directly. Instead, assist the permanent
staff; this keeps the locals in charge and minimizes attachment issues.

Hand over large volunteer placement fees (which can top $1,000)
without ensuring that a portion is passed directly to the organization.

Volunteer at any organization that does not ask for a CV, references
and police reports in advance. The more that is demanded, the greater
chance that the children are being protected.

Select programs that will put you in a position of playing a
direct role, as opposed to a staff-supporting role, in working with
children.

Volunteer in an orphanage without having made arrangements to do so
prior to departure from your home destination. 'Spur-of-the-moment',
in-destination, orphanage voluntourism should be strictly avoided.